Paws & Tales

Ned the Beaver: Welcome to another episode of my personal podcast, Ned Knows! Today, I’m talking to the creator of Paws & Tales, Dave Carl. Well, thanks for being with me today, Dave.

Dave Carl: It’s a pleasure to be here, Ned.

Ned the Beaver: So because I’m me, I happen to know that you have written the first-ever Paws & Tales book! Tell me more about that.

Dave Carl: I’d love to. It’s called The Overcomers, and reading this book will be like reading maybe five regular episodes. The club is in the middle of a big new adventure, and there are new characters we introduce.

Ned the Beaver: That’s fascinating, Dave. I have it, though, by good authority that this book centers around Ned and how he saves the day for everyone.

Dave Carl: Well, no, that’s not what the book is about. It is significantly about the struggle against evil that lurks high up in Wild Mountain. If anything, I’d have to say it centers around Stacy.

Ned the Beaver: What? I gave you really good notes when you were writing this. What happened to all my great ideas?

Dave Carl: Well, mostly I didn’t read them. There were a lot of notes, Ned. In the book I did write, we meet Smidge, a badger who really wants to become someone who will make a difference.

And he meets up with Crockett, a genuine overcomer who begins to teach him how to survive in the woods and how to take care of the miners digging for gold in the tunnels of Wild Mountain.

Ned the Beaver: Ned knows what this book was supposed to be about! In those notes you did not read, Ned inherits a million dollars, but he does not let anyone know about it. And he sneaks around and secretly helps those in need and uses all kinds of really neat gadgets to fight crime.

Dave Carl: I did read that part of the notes, but in this first Paws & Tales book, The Overcomers, we follow the club as they begin a new adventure, and we see how Crockett battles bandits and the evil Minion in only the way an overcomer can.

Ned the Beaver: Well, I did not know that you changed the whole book, Dave! This is a bitter disappointment. Well, this ends this episode of Ned Knows.

Thanks for joining me, Dave Carl, who ignored all my notes. I’ll see you all next time for another episode of Ned Knows. Joel, stop tape.

Insight for Living: Welcome to the world of Paws & Tales. Wild Mountain can be a pretty dangerous place. To stay on the trails and stick with me, there’s adventures to be had there too.

Come on, CJ, jump! It’s too far! It wasn’t too far for me! Insight for Living is proud to present Paws & Tales.

Well, everyone sure seems busy around Wildwood lately. Why, just in the last week, Mr. Brown had to go down to the train station three times—four if you count the morning he forgot his lunch.

And after two wagons nearly bumped sides trying to cross the street at the same time, Officer Hunt talked about putting in a stop sign. Things are busy at the Fix-it shop too. Isn’t it something how a couple of cubs can just fill up a room?

CJ: But the vegetable spills and he just stood there and watched. Vegetables were spilling and squishing all over the road. Nobody even helped.

Papa Chuck: Goodness, that was probably a whole week’s harvest.

CJ: It was. Stacy and I were the only ones helping.

Stacy: CJ, we were the only ones he offered to pay.

CJ: So? Even if he hadn’t offered to pay us, I would have run right up there and helped.

Stacy: Yeah, right.

CJ: What? I would have.

Stacy: Not in a million years.

CJ: I would too.

Stacy: Would not.

CJ: Would too.

Papa Chuck: All right! Speaking of helping folks, are you two still working for me tomorrow?

CJ: Yeah, I am.

Papa Chuck: Oh, this is just going to be great fun for you. You two snapping at each other like turtles. Plan on an hour or so’s work. I’ll need you about 3:00. For that hour’s work, I’ll pay with shingles for the fort. Deal?

CJ: I’m in.

Stacy: Okay.

Papa Chuck: See you tomorrow.

Stacy: See you.

CJ: See you tomorrow. Would too.

Stacy: Would not.

CJ: Would too.

Insight for Living: Now, don’t you worry about the cubs. They get after each other, but in a few minutes, they’ve forgotten what they were growling about, just as you’d expect. The next day, they were standing in the sawdust of the Fix-it shop, raring to go.

Papa Chuck: Okay, come on. Hold on a minute. Do you have the saw?

Stacy: I guess that would help.

Papa Chuck: Catch your breath now. One more time.

CJ: We got it. Deliver the saw to Mr. Snarf. Pick up the apples from the general store and go to the library and get the measurements from Miss Downey and take it to the sawmill by 4:00.

Papa Chuck: Now, I need to get those measurements there before 4:00. They close at 4:00. It’ll mess up my whole week if you can’t make it. Can you get all that done?

CJ: Piece of cake.

Stacy: Easy.

Papa Chuck: All right, let’s go.

CJ: Yeehaw! Meet you there.

Stacy: Hey, hey, hey! The saw!

CJ: Oh yeah. Don’t forget the saw.

Insight for Living: As usual, the cubs are off in a cloud of excitement, full of confidence and energy.

Stacy: It’s not fair. This is heavy. You wanted to carry it.

CJ: Who knew a saw could be this heavy?

Mr. Snarf: Well, there it is! I saw you coming. How are you both?

Stacy: Good, fine thanks.

Mr. Snarf: Well, it looks sharp! Is it?

CJ: I think so.

Mr. Snarf: Well, good! Come on back to the shop. I might have some other things that need to be sharpened. Well, maybe my wife has some things too. Wilhemina!

Stacy: Ouch!

Mr. Snarf: Well, now why’d you scream for?

Stacy: You scared me.

Mr. Snarf: Sorry about that. Now, what’d you ouch for?

CJ: She screamed in my ear.

Mr. Snarf: Say you’re sorry.

Stacy: Sorry.

Mr. Snarf: You see, Wilhemina is a little hard of hearing. Wilhemina!

Stacy: Ouch!

Mr. Snarf: Oh, sorry about that. Well?

Stacy: Sorry.

Wilhemina: What? I heard you the first time! Do you have anything that needs to be sharpened? The poor cubs are covering their little ears. Stop shouting! Do you have anything that needs to be sharpened?

Mr. Snarf: You’re whispering! Why are you whispering?

Stacy: Ouch!

Mr. Snarf: Why’d you ouch?

CJ: She screamed in my ear.

Mr. Snarf: Say you’re sorry.

CJ: Not her, her!

Mr. Snarf: Oh, well say you’re sorry to the boy.

Wilhemina: Why? What’d I do?

Mr. Snarf: You screamed in his ear!

Wilhemina: Oh, sorry about that.

CJ: It’s okay, ma'am.

Stacy: Ouch!

Wilhemina: You got him whispering too!

Mr. Snarf: I’ve done no such thing!

CJ: This is nuts.

Mr. Snarf: Now, for the last time, do you have anything that needs to be sharpened?

Wilhemina: I don’t believe so.

Mr. Snarf: Well, then I think that’s all then.

CJ: Okay, see you. Stacy, go!

Stacy: Have a good afternoon. Ouch! Now she’s whispering too! Bye.

Wilhemina: Did you put them up to it?

Mr. Snarf: I didn’t put no one up to nothing! What, you calling me deaf again, are you?

CJ: My throat hurts.

Stacy: My ears are ringing. We’re late. It’ll take ten minutes to get to the general store and we’ve only got half an hour left.

CJ: Quit talking and put it in gear, slowpoke.

Stacy: Hey, Mr. Crawford.

Mr. Crawford: Hey, kids!

CJ: Maybe we should split up. One of us can take the bag of apples to Papa Chuck and the other can get to the library and the sawmill.

Stacy: Good idea.

Mr. Crawford: Well, what can I do for you two today?

CJ: We’re here to pick up the apples, Mr. Crawford.

Mr. Crawford: Hey, I just got in something new you might like. Let’s take a look here. Banana flavored taffy, huh?

Stacy: I love banana flavored stuff. Is it the real banana flavor or the really fakey banana flavor? Oh, it’s the really fakey stuff. That’s nasty.

CJ: Hey, this is the good stuff. I love that really fakey banana flavor.

Stacy: You need help, CJ.

Mr. Crawford: Well, now I got the old favorites too. Here you go, Stacy. This one’s on the house. See if that don't get the banana taste out of your mouth.

Stacy: Oh yeah. There’s nothing better than good old licorice drops. We’re on the job, Mr. Crawford.

Mr. Crawford: Oh? What would that be?

CJ: Just a minute. We came to get the bag of apples. Oh man! Not again! Sorry, Mr. Crawford.

Mr. Crawford: It happens more than you think. Just pick it up and throw it away, please.

CJ: We came to get the bag of apples for Papa Chuck.

Mr. Crawford: Oh, is that what he said, huh?

CJ: Well, he said apples.

Mr. Crawford: Well, here they are.

Stacy: Whoa! A whole bushel?

Mr. Crawford: That’s what he ordered.

Stacy: If we have to drag this all over town, we’re never going to make it.

Mr. Crawford: No, no, no, you won’t have to drag it around. You can borrow my wheelbarrow, but it’ll take the two of you to handle it, though.

CJ: Maybe we do have a chance. What time is it?

Mr. Crawford: Oh, let's have a look here. 3:40.

Stacy: We’ve got 20 minutes! Move, move, move!

Ned the Beaver: I’m Ned the Beaver, star of Paws & Tales! Now, I want to surprise Papa Chuck with some photos of you.

So parents, take a photo of your kids listening to Paws & Tales. They can be funny photos, kooky pictures, you know, snuggled into the pillows, wherever your child listens.

And I will have them posted on the wall of the clubhouse for all to see. Don’t you want to be a part of the clubhouse wall? Of course you do! So just go to pawsandtales.org and send in those pictures.

Insight for Living: Well, if you’ve ever tried to carry something very heavy in a wheelbarrow, you know how perfectly tippy it is, particularly with one cub on each handle. Suffice to say, Main Street was rolling in apples.

CJ: Keep your end up. I’m doing all the work.

Stacy: It is up! You’re bouncing all over the place. I’m getting a blister. Wait a minute. This is never going to work. We need help.

Mr. Garcia: Hey, CJ, Stacy. Having some trouble?

Stacy: You have no idea. Could you help us for just a few minutes?

Mr. Garcia: Well, like, what do you have in mind?

Stacy: We can’t control the wheelbarrow. If you could just push it for us.

Mr. Garcia: I’d be happy to. Where are you going?

CJ: To Papa Chuck’s.

Mr. Garcia: Oh, that’s not the direction you were heading in.

CJ: I know. We were going to the library and the sawmill first. It’s a long story.

Mr. Garcia: Well, that’s the opposite direction I’m heading in. I’m late now. I’d like to, but sorry.

Stacy: It’s okay. Hey, Mr. Garcia!

Guest (Male): Love to, but I can’t. Sorry.

CJ: We’re cooked. Nobody’s going to help us.

Officer Hunt: Well, you look like you’re in a little over your head.

CJ: Hi, Officer Hunt. We quit.

Officer Hunt: Oh, never say that, CJ. Where are you taking the apples?

CJ: To Papa Chuck’s. What’s left of them.

Officer Hunt: Well, I’ll make you a deal. You pick up all the spilled apples, put them back in the basket, and I’ll deliver them to Papa Chuck.

Stacy: Really? That would be great! Thanks!

That was the sawmill. It’s the clean-up whistle. We got 15 minutes! We can still do it. Come on!

Insight for Living: Well, the apples got picked up in no time, and with renewed hope, the cubs were off once again.

Miss Downey: Shh! This is a library. Let’s keep our voices down.

Stacy: Sorry.

Miss Downey: What can I do for you? Hello, Stacy.

Stacy: Hi. We’re here to get the measurements for the sawmill.

Miss Downey: I don’t know anything about measurements.

Stacy: What are they for?

Stacy: For the sawmill. Papa Chuck is going to make something and he needs boards cut just right, I guess. We really didn’t ask.

Miss Downey: Well, let me go back and ask Thurston. He’s in charge of all the facilities. He might know something about all of this. Be right back.

CJ: She’s shushing me? Why would anyone hire a goose to work in a library? Okay, if we grab the measurements, run as fast as we can, we should have time to spare. We’ve got 10 minutes left.

Miss Downey: Shh! This is a library.

Stacy: Sorry.

Miss Downey: You’ll have to come with me. Thurston wants to talk to you.

CJ: Yes, ma'am. We don’t have time for this.

Insight for Living: As they walked down the hall, the both of them got a sinking feeling that this was not going to be a quick meeting. As they were led through the door, they saw a very large buffalo sitting behind a very small desk.

Thurston: How are you, kids?

Stacy: Fine, sir.

CJ: Very well, thank you.

Thurston: Have a seat, both of you. Now, what can you tell me about these measurements?

Stacy: Well, nothing really. We’re just doing what Papa Chuck asked us to.

Thurston: So if I told you that these measurements all need to be made proud, you probably wouldn’t know what I was talking about, would you? No, not being a cub. No, no.

CJ: Well, yes. That’s leaving a little bit more than the measurements say by a 16th of an inch.

Thurston: Oh good, excellent. You get all this from Papa Chuck, you say?

CJ: Yeah, he’s always telling us stuff like that. You know, we’re really in a bit of a hurry. If you wouldn’t mind, we need to get those measurements to the sawmill in less than 10 minutes.

Thurston: You are quite correct. Well, there you go. Now tell them to cut them proud now. Cut them proud.

CJ: We will, sir.

Stacy: Have a nice day. Thanks, Miss Downey.

Miss Downey: Shh!

CJ: I know. Sorry. Let’s go!

Insight for Living: Despite all of the trials and obstacles they’ve met with, to finish their journey now, all they need to do is take that one small piece of paper and get it to the sawmill.

CJ: We’re going to make it! Look, it’s a skunk! Is he hurt? This cannot be happening. And a skunk on top of it all. Are you okay?

Edgar: No, I’m not! Oh, the smell! Well, yes, I must apologize. When my cart flipped, the handle hit me in the head. Well, I reacted as if I were sprayed. I was scared. It’s what skunks do, you know.

Stacy: My name’s Stacy.

Edgar: Hello, Stacy. I’m Edgar.

CJ: I’m CJ. Hi, Edgar. If you’re okay, maybe we’ll just—

Edgar: I’m not! I took a hit to the head, and then the cart flipped back and it’s not broken, but I can’t walk on it.

CJ: Look, I’ll run on and deliver this.

Edgar: I need a doctor! Five animals walked right by me! They were late for a meeting, or probably put off by the smell. Picky people.

CJ: Okay, we’ve been there too. Let’s get out of here. The smell is killing me. Let’s get you in the cart and we’ll push you to the doctor’s office. Oh man! Let’s get you to the doctor, Edgar.

Edgar: What was that?

CJ: Nothing. The sawmill just closed.

Edgar: Is that important?

CJ: Not really. What brings you to Wildwood, Edgar?

Ned the Beaver: Hey, Stace, I’m helping out today, so I’ll direct you whenever you’re ready.

Stacy: Hey, everyone, Stacy here from Paws & Tales! We’ve had kids from all over the country send in their announcer recordings and they are heard every day on the program! But we haven’t heard one from you.

Ned the Beaver: Yeah, really good, Stace, but this time with a little more pathos, please.

Stacy: Oh, Ned. Just head on over to pawsandtales.org and pop into the clubhouse to get one of the announcer scripts.

Ned the Beaver: That’s a good start, Stace, but I need some more sparkle, please. Give me more sparkle!

Stacy: I don’t even know what that means. Record yourself on your parents' phone and send it into us so we can get your voice heard around the world! That’s pawsandtales.org. This is so exciting! Well, let’s think about your motivation on this.

Guest (Male): Good job, Stacy. Stopping tape.

Ned the Beaver: Wait! I’m directing this! Do not stop tape, Joel! Do not stop that tape!

CJ: Well, what do you think will happen? We did everything we were supposed to. Everything that we could. I just hope this doesn’t mess up Papa Chuck too much. I feel rotten.

Stacy: Mr. Snarf made us late. Mr. Crawford made us even more late. And the library—don’t even get me started. Maybe we should have just been rude to everyone and gotten the job done.

Edgar: I can see that I was the last in a long line of obstacles to you. You didn’t complete your task?

Stacy: We did mostly, but not the most important one.

Edgar: Well, I apologize. And thank you again for your help, dear children. It is a noble thing to help another in need. Is that Papa Chuck’s shop?

CJ: Yeah, not looking forward to going in there.

Edgar: Oh, really? Would you mind too much, before we go to the doctor, I would like to have a chat with Papa Chuck? It might ease things a bit.

Stacy: Well, yeah, that might be a good idea.

CJ: Works for me.

Edgar: It’s the least I can do after you nearly saved my life.

Stacy: Well, it’s not like he’s going to be mad. He’s not like that. We just hate to disappoint him.

Edgar: Well, it seems as though you love him very much.

CJ: Yeah, we do. Can we not get all mushy here?

Edgar: My apologies again.

Stacy: Papa Chuck, we need you! Now, why don’t you just do all the talking?

Papa Chuck: Good, very good! How’d it go, Edgar?

Edgar: Very well, actually.

Stacy: You know each other?

Papa Chuck: Come on inside! Splendid! I’m so pleased.

CJ: Hey, you’re walking!

Edgar: Yes, I am. It was a bit of a deception. I apologize yet again.

Papa Chuck: I put him up to it.

CJ: Why would you do that? We didn’t make it to the sawmill.

Papa Chuck: I know. That was my highest hope. That’s what I was praying for.

Stacy: I’m confused.

Papa Chuck: Sit down and relax. I’ll explain everything.

CJ: You wanted to see if we would help him.

Papa Chuck: Bright boy there. Both of them. You’ve no idea. I’ve never done this to anyone before, though I’ve had it done to me.

CJ: Practical jokes?

Papa Chuck: No, no, this is not a joke. This was as serious as it gets. It was a test.

Stacy: I can’t believe you set us up. How’d we do?

Edgar: Oh, I’d say rather well.

Papa Chuck: Extremely well. I’ve been praying for you both for quite some time. You have very good hearts.

That’s better than just about anything. You love God, and today you proved it by helping Edgar. How’d you do with the Snarfs?

CJ: My ears are still ringing.

Papa Chuck: Yeah, they might have gone a little too far.

CJ: That was part of it? Everyone except Officer Hunt. How’d you know about that?

Papa Chuck: When he brought the apples, he told me the story. He stepped up and helped you out. That’s a good old wolf.

CJ: Mr. Crawford?

Papa Chuck: Everyone on your list was supposed to try and slow you down.

Stacy: Why’d you do it?

Edgar: Thank you, Edgar. My pleasure. Good luck, cubs.

CJ: Bye.

Stacy: Goodbye.

Papa Chuck: There are different ways to learn. Some are better than others. You learn a little if you hear it, but often you learn a lot more if you experience it. I wanted this to be a lesson you’d never forget.

CJ: No chance we’ll forget this. Edgar was like the guy in the Good Samaritan.

Papa Chuck: Very good. In the story, he was beaten up and robbed, and no one would stop to help him. Ever hear that story and get mad at the guys that passed him by?

CJ: Yeah, I do.

Papa Chuck: How close were you two to doing the same thing?

Stacy: That was an uncomfortable silence. We almost did. We almost left him there so we could get to the sawmill.

Papa Chuck: Do you smell that? Nana Cindy’s working on some apple pie. There’ll always be a good reason not to help someone. It’ll almost always cost you, and most of the time, it’s a real bother.

Jesus said that helping others is the second most important thing we can do. The first is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself.

CJ: Yeah, I’ve heard that one before.

Papa Chuck: You had it in your head. Now you have it in your heart. Let’s go check on that pie.

Stacy: Pie before dinner?

Papa Chuck: It’s been a big day.

Insight for Living: Well, the three of them sat on the porch in three rocking chairs with four pieces of pie. Papa Chuck is a two-piece-of-pie sort of bear.

They talked and laughed and even sang a hymn or two. Those cubs didn’t know it then, but this was only the first test Papa Chuck would have for them.

He knew even then that there was something special about these two, but even Papa Chuck didn’t know that teaching them to be godly bears would one day save the lives of everyone in town.

CJ: Mr. and Mrs. Snarf, do they really yell like that all the time?

Papa Chuck: I was sitting next to her in church once. I asked her a question and she yelled at me for whispering! It startled me so bad I fell out of the pew and sat right in the aisle. I’ll never ask her anything in church again.

Insight for Living: To order a copy of today’s program, "A Race Against Time," call us at 1-866-968-PAWS. That’s 1-866-968-P-A-W-S.

"A Race Against Time" was written by Jeff White and David Carl. Today’s episode was directed by David Carl. "When Your Neighbor is in Need" was written by Sandy Howell and Nick Brown.

Music was by Tim Hosman, and our sound designer was Eric Basil.